The Reformation in Denmark

Denmark is another place where the role of politics and the prince were key in the development of the Reformation.

Lutheran ideas were tolerated by King Frederick I and Lutheran preachers abounded. He would not, however, take the final step and break with Rome.

When Frederick died in 1533, a struggle over the succession ensued. Christian III won that struggle in 1536. Deeply in debt, he turned for help to the Catholic Church, but without result. Encouraged by his German advisers, he secularized the Church in Denmark and seized its lands. This solved his debt problem nicely.

Christian proceeded to establish the Danish Church. He had its provisions reviewed by Luther himself. The clergy were chosen by lay authorities, with the king as the head of the church. Divine services, sermons, rituals, schools, the status of priests, all were regulated. Denmark preserved the episcopal structure, but bishops held only spiritual authority.

Because the king of Denmark also ruled Norway, the same structure was imposed there. But Norway proved resistant to Lutheran ideas, and it took another two generations before Norway was genuinely Lutheran.

 

History of Western Civilization

Dr. E. L. Skip Knox
Boise State University
Last revised: 18 August 2000